Road Tested [Live]

Amazon.com
A sense of self-confidence permeates Road Tested. If the '70s were marked by promise and the '80s by disappointment, the '90s, thanks to three smash studio albums, have been sheer triumph for Raitt, and she sounds damned satisfied. Her first live recording after 24 years in the business, Road Tested is an all-things-to-all-people effort, unsurprising given its creator has become all things to an awful lot of people. Steadfast favorites, '90s hits, and fresh additions to her repertoire are spiced by guest appearances by Bruce Hornsby, Ruth Brown, Charles Brown, Jackson Browne, Kim Wilson, and Bryan Adams. Raitt is in fine voice, her playing is great, and the band is solid. What's missing? Maybe some of that vanquished brashness and desperation. --Steve Stolder

Road Tested,Bonnie Raitt,Capitol,Adult Contemporary,Album Rock,Blues-Rock,Pop,Pop/Rock,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop,Singer/Songwriter

Road Tested [Live]

Average customer rating:

Sounds like it was made for video
a superb show with superb guests
Bonnie Raitt at her best
Too polished for my taste
Truly a live album to talk about.

Road Tested
Bonnie Raitt
Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Contemporary Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

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Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Adult Contemporary | Pop | Styles | Music

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Rock | Styles | Music

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Blues Rock | Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

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Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
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The Bonnie Raitt Collection
Longing in Their Hearts
Silver Lining
Fundamental
Give It Up

ASIN: B000002TXV
Release Date: 1995-11-07

Tracks:

Thing Called Love
Three Time Loser
Love Letter
Never Make Your Move Too Soon
Something To Talk About
Matters Of The Heart
Shake A Little
Have A Heart
Love Me Like A Man
Kokomo
Louise
Dimming Of The Day

Tracks:

Longing In Their Hearts
Come To Me
Love Sneakin' Up On You
Burning Down The House
I Can't Make You Love Me
Feeling Of Falling
I Believe I'm In Love With You
Rock Steady
My Opening Farewell
Angel From Montgomery

Amazon.com

A sense of self-confidence permeates Road Tested. If the '70s were marked by promise and the '80s by disappointment, the '90s, thanks to three smash studio albums, have been sheer triumph for Raitt, and she sounds damned satisfied. Her first live recording after 24 years in the business, Road Tested is an all-things-to-all-people effort, unsurprising given its creator has become all things to an awful lot of people. Steadfast favorites, '90s hits, and fresh additions to her repertoire are spiced by guest appearances by Bruce Hornsby, Ruth Brown, Charles Brown, Jackson Browne, Kim Wilson, and Bryan Adams. Raitt is in fine voice, her playing is great, and the band is solid. What's missing? Maybe some of that vanquished brashness and desperation. --Steve Stolder

Customer Reviews:

Sounds like it was made for video.......2006-12-19

GET THE DVD INSTEAD.

This is from a 1995 concert that was staged to be filmed. The total time is 105 minutes. You can get this on DVD instead, which I would recommend.

This CD sounds like it is ripped right from a video. There is just something about it, with the dynamic range and the way it is mixed. When I first played it on my stereo, I kept involuntarliy looking over at my TV, expecting to see some video.

Overall, it is a nice peformance from Bonnie Raitt, but it isn't the best one I have heard. It is better than the one released in 2006. However, I have heard other radio shows and CD's that are better, but for some reason currently aren't officially available.

One of the problems with this show and her latest live CD's is that they try too hard to come up with polished product. So, all the hits are here, but they are done too close to the studio versions. She doesn't open up like when she isn't under the pressure to create a video.

The other problem is too many guest stars. People always go nuts when there are famous guest stars on these videos. Sometimes there are magic moments. But usually, they are just a distraction. These guest stars do not practice with the band, don't really know the songs and just go through the motions. I would rather hear more of Bonnie Raitt than some inferior performance by Bryan Adams.

In spite of the sound quality and some stale moments, this is still a very nice CD and I would recommend it to anyone who likes any of Raitt's songs.

a superb show with superb guests.......2006-09-06

I won't say much about the content, as others have covered that subject well. She gets help here from Ruth and Charles Brown, Bruce Hornsby, and Jackson Browne. The band is completely tuned into these songs -- everything is right on cue, sympathetic to Bonnie's vocals and solos. Slammin'!!

True, Bonnie doesn't sing classic blues on this album. She filters it through the rock and pop genre. So what? Anyone who can't hear the blues in her slide guitar is just constipated.

I own both the CD and the video version on laserdisc. The CD set is very reasonably priced if you buy it used, but you might do well to consider buying the DVD to get all the visual excitement too.

I've seen Bonnie live once. She is a professional. She is a natural live performer. Arguably these live takes are better than the album versions. I think she thrives on an audience. If you like Bonnie Raitt, above all don't miss *this* album. It may be her best, in addition to being one of the best live albums I've ever seen/heard on film.

Bonnie Raitt at her best.......2005-07-15

I had never heard much Bonnie Raitt. I was at a CD store one night and ran across this live CD. I had heard a few recent songs of hers and decided to buy the CD.
I took it home and much to my surprise I could not stop listening to it.
The Cd and the DVD for that matter includes some friends of hers, such as Bryan Adams, Charles and Ruth Brown, Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby and Kim Wilson.
She does her classics Thing called Love and Something to talk about. She also does a mean acoustic version of Love me like a man which is certainly one of the highlights of the performance.
Dimming of the Day and Love sneaking up on you are also great performances.
The highlight of the evening to me is when Charles and Ruth Brown come out and sing Never make your move too soon. Charles Brown plays a very mean piano solo that will make any blues lover get excited as Ruth sings away.
She also closes the album with her classic Angel from Montgomery.
If you dont already have some Bonnie Raitt CD's this would be a very good one to start with. I would also recommmend the DVD.
This is Mississippi Delta blues at its best..........enjoy

Too polished for my taste.......2003-02-08

I must admit that I have never been a huge fan of Raitt's work. Actually, most days her voice tends to grate my nerves. But since I almost always prefer live recordings to studio albums, I picked up this two CD set as a "best of" album. After all, there are not very many female slide guitar players, so there is something to be said for that. I hesitate to put her in the blues-rock category. But for argument's sake, I will reluctantly do so. From a purely personal standpoint, I find her playing to be a bit too polished. Her playing does not elicit the kind of emotional reaction that I am used to getting from blues. Don't get me wrong, she can play difficult arrangements and never miss a chord, but that's the problem. Her playing is mechanical. One of the best things about live performances, especially in the blues milieu, is where the "mistakes" lead. This album, while I am glad I bought it, will not often be finding its way into my CD rotation. It was what I expected, nothing more.

Truly a live album to talk about........2003-01-29

She had been around for over two decades, appearing live in the Cambridge, MA jazz and blues clubs long before she had her first recording contract. She had been on stage with all the greats of the business. She had received triple Grammies for her 1989 release "Nick of Time." Her fans, ignited by her fiery live appearances, had been clamoring for a live album for years. Yet, it took Bonnie Raitt 25 years, a personal and professional roller coaster ride, and a succession of three bestselling albums ("Nick of Time" and the early 1990s releases "Luck of the Draw" and "Longing in Their Hearts," all produced by Don Was) until finally, in 1995, a series of live appearances in Oakland, California and Portland, Oregon were recorded and blended together in this album, appropriately titled "Road Tested."

When the project was put together, Bonnie called on a number of friends, with whom she had shared the stage many times before and whose songs, having found a whole new interpretation in her performance, had become staples in her live repertoire long ago. And they all came: R&B legends Ruth and Charles Brown ("The jewels in our crown up here," Raitt commented when introducing them on stage), as well as rockers Bryan Adams, Kim Wilson, Bruce Hornsby and Jackson Browne; in addition to her seasoned stage band, led by Ricky Fataar (drums) and "Hutch" Hutchinson (bass), without whom, to this day, a Bonnie Raitt live appearance is simply unthinkable. And as always, Bonnie was deeply appreciative of everybody who showed up for the occasion: "Special thanks ... for coming to add so much to this long awaited project. This was the time and you were the reason," she wrote in the album's liner notes, thanking her musician friends, and in true style, she did not overlook a single member of the audience, either, commenting that "I'd like to thank you up in the balcony, too; I can see you!"

Short of experiencing Bonnie Raitt live on stage, "Road Tested" is the best evidence why rock and blues music, particularly when performed by an artist with such an unmatched passion for her work and skill as a guitar player as is Raitt, is a vastly different experience than listening to a studio album. The blues is meant to be performed live first and foremost; similar to jazz and gospel (and often, more so than rock music) it depends on the spontaneous interplay of the musicians, and the interaction between stage and audience. This is, of course, most obvious in the songs performed as duets here; but just listen to this album's slow, intense version of "Love Me Like a Man;" one of Raitt's oldest songs - it's from her second album, 1972's "Give It Up" - one of those pieces that would have an uninitiated listener, if any such still exist, become absolutely convinced that they're listening to a recording made in a small Southern blues club, not on a big West coast stage. And indeed, immediately after that song follows Mississippi Fred McDowell's "Kokomo Medley," in the introduction of which Raitt quotes her old friend and touring partner's words: "I do not play no rock'n roll" - and she adds that "when he got to playin', man, that's all the rockin' I'll ever need."

Most of the 22 songs contained on this double album are longtime staples in Raitt's live appearances; and given her extraordinary repertoire, it comes as no surprise that this is an outing jam-packed to the brim with gems. CD No. 1 starts with a quintuple slam: Her opening duet with Bruce Hornsby on John Hiatt's "Thing Called Love," one of the standout hits from "Nick of Time" ("When I wrote the song, I had no idea that a pretty redhead named Bonnie Raitt was going to make it such a big thing one day," Hiatt once commented), followed by "Three Time Loser" (originally published on 1977's "Sweet Forgiveness" and one of her trademark "I've had it" songs with lyrics such as "How many hours [for] your love I'm gonna wait? How many heartaches you really think I'm gonna take?"), the Jazz Crusaders' infectious "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" (featuring Bonnie Raitt with Ruth and Charles Brown and Kim Wilson) and one of the hits from "Luck of the Draw," "Something to Talk About." Other standouts on the first CD are "Have a Heart" (likewise from "Nick of Time") and the heartbreaking ballad "Louise" (from "Sweet Forgiveness").

CD No. 2 begins with the title song of "Longing in Their Hearts," Raitt's last studio album before this live double outing, and a small series from that album and its predecessor "Luck of the Draw" ("Come to Me" and the rocking "Love Sneakin' Up on You"), and then Bonnie and crew get ready to bring down the walls again with the Talkin' Heads' "Burning Down the House." Thereafter it gets quieter once more, with Bonnie Raitt's version of "I Can't Make You Love Me" (and again, Bruce Hornsby on keyboards), after which the daughter of pianist Marjorie Haydock Raitt herself takes the keys for the rocker "Feeling of Falling;" followed by a nonstop succession of duets with all her famous guests: from more good oldfashioned rock'n roll in "I Believe I'm in Love With You" to the hard-driving "Rock Steady" with Bryan Adams (who specifically wrote the song for this appearance with Raitt), the ballad "My Opening Farewell" with that song's creator Jackson Browne, and last but not least, perhaps Raitt's biggest signature song, the John Prine classic "Angel From Montgomery," which here becomes an emotional finale, in which she is joined by all of her guests.

"We were going for something really special," producer Don Was, who would pass the helm to Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake for Raitt's next studio album, 1998's "Fundamental," commented on "Road Tested." And something special they created indeed - only to be surpassed by the experience of an entire evening of a Bonnie Raitt live appearance.

Road Tested 2003-2005
Average customer rating:
Road Tested 2003-2005
Sage Francis
Manufacturer: Strangefamousrecords
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Gangsta & Hardcore | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
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Human the Death Dance

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ASIN: B000FQJMWQ
Release Date: 2006-08-29

Tracks:

Holy Rollin'
Runaways
Sign from God
Bang Bang Boogie/Climb Trees
Broken Wings
Specialist
Kiddie Litter Spoken Word
Sea Lion Extended
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White Wedding
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Dirty
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Underbite Ben Finds God (Spoken Word)
Cafe Girl/Capaccino
Slum Lord Intermission
Next Testament
Bridle Extended

Average customer rating:

Why do I like mainstream jazz so much? THIS is why!
Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff AT THEIR BEST

Road Tested
Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff
Manufacturer: Milestone
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000000XVV
Release Date: 1997-11-18

Tracks:

Peanuts
I Only Have Eyes for You
Happy Feet
For Sentimental Reasons
Caravan
Road Tested
Hope That We Can Be Together Soon
Mr. P.C.
Summertime
A Little Bit South Of East St. Louis

Customer Reviews:

Why do I like mainstream jazz so much? THIS is why! .......2007-05-27

I caught a song from "Road Tested" on a radio program called "Jazz Showcase" late one Sunday night, although I didn't know who it was at the time and had to go to the station's website and look it up on their playlist. They were playing a standard, "Caravan", but something about the ferociously energetic and soulful way this quartet tore into that old standby immediately caught my attention and impressed the hell out of me. I ordered the CD from Amazon the next day. It arrived a couple days ago and hasn't been off my stereo since.

This is pure jazz musicianship at its finest. These guys just play everything as though their lives depended on it. The arrangements are lean and spare and allow each musician plenty of space to be heard and to stretch out. The recording has a nice bright uncluttered feel to it that I really enjoy, too.

Extremely enjoyable and impressive. I plan to get more Crawford and McGriff as soon as possible.

Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff AT THEIR BEST.......2000-10-09

The best release by this pair to date.

Average customer rating:

ROAD TESTED (DTS) (CD)

Manufacturer: DTS INC.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000007R0U

Product Description

Tracks:

Davey On The Internet
Who Stole The Soul Of Johnny Dreams
One-Eyed Joe
Starman
Dogs In The Bed
Rock 'n' Roll Nation
Cowboy In The Distance
I Want To Be Elvis
Star In The Black Sky Shining
Turn Of The Century (Diana)
Miracle Girl
Lucky Old Sun
Waltz Of The Crazy Moon
Rally Down The Night
Waiting For Castro To Die

Album Description

This is the first new CD of studio recordings in five years by John Stewart, one of the overlooked founders of the "Americana" genre, whose musical career encompasses more than 40 years and 40 albums.

"Havana" features 14 memorable Stewart originals that ponder modern life and materialism ("Davey on the Internet," "Who Stole the Soul of Johnny Dreams"), mortality and existentialism ("Dogs in the Bed," "Starman"), personal and public heroes ("I Want to Be Elvis," "Turn of the Century [Diana]"), love ("Miracle Girl," "Cowboy in the Distance"), and life's cosmic mysteries ("Star in the Black Sky Shining," "Rally Down the Night"). John tackles these issues with unquenched wonder and hard-won experience, a wry cynicism forged by reality but tempered with an optimism based on faith in the individual. The title song expresses John's frustration at his inability to visit the forbidden Cuba. The CD's one borrowed composition is John's version of the standard "Lucky Old Sun," a 1949 hit for Frankie Laine also recorded by Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others.

The CD was produced and mixed by John, who also plays most of the instruments (guitars, banjo, bass, harmonica, keyboards, percussion). His accompanists include wife Buffy Ford Stewart on harmonies and percussion (her backing vocals on "Turn of the Century" make one hunger for the song's chorus) and longtime sideman John Hoke on drums and percussion. Rich, bright layers of ringing guitars, propulsive rhythms, dollops of banjo, lyrics ranging from thoughtful to playful, and John's weathered voice of experience add up to a mature, haunting (but still rocking) high water mark in his lengthy career.

Customer Reviews:

Heartbreaking.......2005-07-01

There was never anyone better than John Stewart. From the first album he did with the Kingston Trio until his voice began to desert him on "Rough Sketches," he wrote passionate, poetic, creative songs and delivered them with a voice that I would have given everything I have ever owned, hope to own, and could dream of owning, to possess. I waited for each new album with more anticipation than I felt at Christmas.

Then I bought and played "Havana." I cried whan Kennedy was shot. I cried when my high school girlfriend said it was over. I cried when each of my parents died. And I cried when I played this CD.
He can't sing anymore. He doesn't even come close to singing. The people who praise this album are worshipping a fallen god, whose fall from greatness they cannot accept. Stay away from this CD. It hurts. IT HURTS!!!!

There's a Reaon Why the Call Him a Legend.......2005-03-02

John Stewart can still pen a lyric better than 99.99% of the songwriters out there. He has the ability to take simple concepts and turn it into profundity. Star in the Black Sky Shinning is a perfect example. Only someone with pure talent, ability and instictively heart wrenching phrasing can turn out a CD like this. The vioce may have changed, but that doesn't detract from this CD, but rather adds to it.

A Music Fan...You just don't get it!.......2005-01-23

Don't give any mind to the negitive reviews of this CD. John Stewart still writes and sings from the heart. People slamming this CD don't understand John Stewart or his music, they also wouldn't Tom Waits. If you KNOW John Stewart music you will enjoy Havana.

great songs, voice gone.......2004-11-20

It is sad to see how much the voice has disintegrated
I have seen John in concert 8 times over the last 20 years.
the last time, the first half of the show was weakly sung, then the last half, as if by miracle was very strong.
on this, the whole album suffers from a voice that is now gone
Some of these songs, waiting for Castro to die, Davey, Who stole the soul of Johhny dreams,I want to be elvis, are among his best, but we will never heard them sung as John could once sing them.
A Vocal tragedy

Why was this recorded ??????.......2004-01-11

Time to hang up the saddle, Cowboy.

Average customer rating:

Road Tested: Ultimate Driving Album
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Time Life Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Compilations | Rock | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000F8OIO6
Release Date: 2006-05-23

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Free Ride - The Edgar Winter Group
The Valley Road - Bruce Hornsby And The Range
Radar Love - Golden Earring
Ride Captain Ride - Blues Image
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Motorcycle Mama - Sailcat
Let's Go - The Cars
I Can't Drive 55 - Sammy Hagar
Low Rider - War
Don't Look Back - Boston
Vehicle - Ides Of March
Going Up The Country - Canned Heat
Movin' On - Bad Company
Let It Ride - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
The Road To Hell (Part 2) - Chris Rea
Drivin' My Life Away - Eddie Rabbitt
Get Out Of Denver - Dave Edmunds

Average customer rating:

Sounds like it was made for video
a superb show with superb guests
Bonnie Raitt at her best
Too polished for my taste
Truly a live album to talk about.

Road Tested
Bonnie Raitt
Manufacturer: Capital
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Adult Contemporary | Pop | Styles | Music

Blues Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

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The Bonnie Raitt Collection
Longing in Their Hearts
Silver Lining
Fundamental
Give It Up

ASIN: B000024JYV

Customer Reviews:

Sounds like it was made for video.......2006-12-19

a superb show with superb guests.......2006-09-06

Bonnie Raitt at her best.......2005-07-15

Too polished for my taste.......2003-02-08

Truly a live album to talk about........2003-01-29

"We were going for something really special," producer Don Was, who would pass the helm to Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake for Raitt's next studio album, 1998's "Fundamental," commented on "Road Tested." And something special they created indeed - only to be surpassed by the experience of an entire evening of a Bonnie Raitt live appearance.

Trouble
Average customer rating:

Like Springsteen in his early days...

Trouble
Steve Brosky
Manufacturer: Darktown Recordz
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002W1GEU
Release Date: 2004-08-01

Tracks:

Cadillac Radio
Borrowed Time
Plywood Gypsy
U Mean the World 2 Me
African Daisy
Trouble
The Cameo
Shadez of Blu N' Otis 2

Album Description

Steve's latest release, "TROUBLE", demonstrates again the power of his voice and. songwriting ability. Produced by Wayne Becker at Westwires Studio for Darktown Recordz, "TROUBLE" features the talents of musicians like Steve Kimock (slide guitar on "Trouble" and guitar work on "Cadillac Radio" and "Borrowed Time") and Craig Kastellnik (monstrous keyboards on just about all the tunes, making it scary good.) Wayne "Paco" Maura's keeping the beat, keeping the time and keeping the score. A touch of Oklahoma blues guitar is what Ken Siftar slaps onto every groove. The voices of The Holms Family can be felt on "African Daisy". Guest performers on "Shadez of Blu' n Otis 2" include Kjell Benner (bass); Peter Fluck (saxophone); Bev Conklin, Mary Hawkins and Sarah Ayers (the lady blues choir). Shelagh Maloney's violin brings life to "Plywood Gypsy". The voices of Bill Hall, Paco, Jackie Tice and daughter Sage Ariel provide the background for "Trouble".

Customer Reviews:

Like Springsteen in his early days..........2004-08-30

This is an awesome disc! I love the stripped down sound of rock n roll being played from the heart and that's what Trouble is all about. If you're tired of nu metal oversampled, over-produced noise by teenagers, and want true rock music played by talented musicians, this is what you have been waiting for!